Mobility Assessment

Balance and gait evaluation using the Tinetti Assessment Tool (Performance-Oriented Mobility Assessment), with fall risk stratification.

Scoring

Instrument: Tinetti Assessment Tool. Range 0–28.

• < 19 — high fall risk.
• 19–24 — moderate risk.
• 25–28 — low risk.

What it covers

Demographics; referral information; fall history; balance assessment; gait assessment; Timed Up and Go; range of motion; assistive devices; current medications; and functional independence.

Relationship to fall-risk-assessment

The Tinetti tool here gives a detailed, observation-based balance/gait evaluation; Fall Risk Assessment uses the Morse Fall Scale, a broader multi-domain risk score. The two are often used together — a high Morse score commonly prompts this more detailed mobility evaluation.

Common pitfalls

• Scoring gait/balance items without observing the actual task — the Tinetti tool depends on directly observed performance (not self-report) for each item; substituting a verbal description misses what the tool is designed to catch.
• Using medication review as an afterthought — several medication classes (sedatives, antihypertensives, some psychiatric medications) directly affect balance and gait; reviewing them separately from the functional testing misses an easily modifiable contributing factor.
• Treating the Timed Up and Go as optional — it's a distinct, quick, high-value functional test that complements but doesn't duplicate the Tinetti balance/gait items; skipping it loses independent information.

Learn more

• FormExamples: mobility-assessment for the full implementation, clinical references, and worked examples.
• Fall Risk Assessment for the related, broader fall-risk screening tool.